19 Tails
by toofine89
Summary: The seal gave Naruto and his sister the Kyuubi's power over years of slow absorption. Now they'll need all the power they can get if they want to survive against Akatsuki and gain respect among their own kind - the biju. Super powered Naruto with super strong enemies and an epic adventure. Mini harem of two. 18 Tails Rewrite. My attempt to better a good idea with immature writing.
1. Chapter 1

**I really enjoyed the premise behind 18 Tails, but it was done poorly. Things were either cliché, low quality, or both. I couldn't stand it, so I left it behind for other projects. I'm still no pro, but I'm going to give this thing one more chance as it has the most views, favs, follows, and reviews of any story I've posted (so far) and I do like it myself.**

**Image credit to Santos33756.**

**I don't own Naruto or anything, really. Feel free to review as I go through and make a better 18 Tails. Enjoy.**

**xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

"What are we going to name them, Minato?" asked the tired red head who was nearly asleep on the hospital bed.

"How about after the land of Whirlpool, Kushina?" asked her husband, his sapphire eyes looking on his wife with a curious mixture of love and pure exhaustion. The last nine months of his life had been tiring, but, after the next nine minutes, he would be able to take a long needed rest.

Kushina stared at her family, all three with sunshine hair and eyes of the deepest blue. She could only hope that they got her personality if they got their looks from their father. Raising her hand to her newborn little boy's head and rubbing the singular tuft of hair on his head she said, "Naruto," and the boy began to laugh. She moved her hand to her beautiful baby girl's cheek and said, "Naruko," while the girl grabbed her hand and began to suck on a finger. "Minato, I love you. Seal that beast away, and I'll be here for them." She faded into a fitful sleep.

Minato took her hand and held it tight, for the final time, before he gently kissed his wife once on the lips. He left the building and, with tears raining from his storm blue eyes, he summoned a humongous toad. "Let's do this, Gamabunta." He jumped to the amphibian's back, and the boss toad jumped toward the danger at hand, a beautiful and merciless form of nature, a golden-red nine tailed fox of a massive size. It was unfortunate that no one saw a man with a black cloak and a single rotating eye leave the room with a bloody kunai, leaving Kushina with a slit throat and the attending nurse with much less.

As the toad jumped overhead, shinobi stopped fighting to watch their leader, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, enter battle. They expected to see his famous jutsu, either a rasengan or the legendary hiraishin. Instead all they saw was a burst of red and blue energy and a smoke screen as the toad left. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a single blond baby boy. The boy wept, for he no longer had the warmth of his mother or the touch of his father. Whisker marks appeared on his cheeks, one line at a time, and a red light shined through the blanket where his belly lay. As the light dimmed and disappeared, the boy turned to sleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Jiraiya, what do you mean?" asked Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage.

"I'll say it again. There are three souls here, and one seems to be slowly shrinking. However, it will take years for it to be absorbed. My best guess is that two of the souls belong to Naruto and his sister, and the third is the fox itself. Over time, the children's souls should absorb the Kyuubi's power and knowledge. If anything, due to the Kyuubi's steady regeneration of chakra, they should both absorb at least nine tails worth of chakra." The white haired men looked into the crib where Naruto lay. The boy moved restlessly, even in his sleep. Old eyes turned to look at older eyes and they contemplated what had happened.

"How can Naruko's soul absorb chakra without a body?" pondered the newly reinstated Sandaime Hokage.

Jiraiya had no answer, and there was silence for a moment. "Now what do we do about the boy? I can't bring him with me. He would ruin all cover I may have with my spy network and his life would be in danger," said the sannin.

"Well, I can't adopt him either. It would draw too much suspicion to him. We can't have him used as a weapon or targeted as a threat. I suppose all we can do now is to put him in the orphanage and look out for him for as best as we can."

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Jiraiya asked, giving Sarutobi an incredulous look. "The first thing those civilians did when they saw him was try to 'kill the demon.'"

"You're right, Jiraiya, but what else can we do? We'll call him Uzumaki, after his mother, so at least Iwa doesn't target him. Other than that, well, only Kami knows." Both men sighed at looked at the infant, innocent and naive, yet seemingly conscious of the troubles ahead as he held his hand out to the world, trying to block it. He cried softly, through his fitful sleep.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"I'm going to kill you!" shouted the now enraged Naruto. This thirteen year-old stood over the body of his teacher Iruka, acting as the last boundary between him and the traitorous Mizuki. Both had been his teachers at Konoha ninja academy. While Iruka had been one of the very first teachers to pay attention to him and truly try to help him succeed, Mizuki had been the opposite. Mizuki had singled Naruto out for abuse behind the scenes, giving him bad matches in spars and slightly worsening his scores on tests. But up close, Mizuki had been just as kind to the boy.

That's why, when Naruto failed the test to become a genin, he didn't question Mizuki when the traitorous teacher told him of an alternate test to pass. It was "simple" according to Mizuki. Steal the forbidden scroll from the Hokage tower, bring it to this location, and learn a technique before being found. It would prove his stealth, planning, and ability to learn.

Everything had gone well until Iruka showed up and both realized Mizuki had set Naruto up. There was no test. Mizuki had just gotten Naruto to steal the scroll so that he had an excuse to kill him and then take the scroll! Iruka had been caught off guard and now it was between the two of them – chunin and academy failure.

"Just try it demon! Once you're gone the village will consider me a hero and I'll get a fair amount for the scroll too! It's a shame about you, Iruka. You were a good coworker besides your like for the brat here, and now you'll also have to die."

Naruto felt a new sensation gather around him. His teeth lengthened and whiskers set deeper while his eyes turned a deep red with only a gleam of blue shining through his slit pupils. An armor of ethereal red chakra surrounded his body and a single crimson tail formed from the chakra behind him. He crossed his fingers and growled in a feral voice, "Kage bunshin." Every visible speck of land was covered in solid Naruto clones and, as Iruka watched on, Mizuki was beaten within an inch of his life. Naruto stood over his once sensei with newly formed claws and set to deal the finishing blow. Iruka yelled out to him to stop him from killing Mizuki.

"Stop it, Naruto! He may have information we need!"

One of Naruto's clones came over to him and held his arm back. They glared into each other's eyes and the red chakra dissipated. The fangs receded a tad as did the claws, but they were now more notably prominent than they had been before tonight. Instead of cutting his throat out, Naruto merely knocked Mizuki out with a back hand before walking over to Iruka.

The still injured chunin teacher stumbled to his feet. "Naruto, thank you. Now close your eyes." Naruto did so and felt something being attached to his head. He thought he knew what it was and he certainly hoped he was right. "You can open them now. You are now an official ninja of Konoha!"

Naruto opened his eyes, reached up, and felt the cold metal of the hitai-ate attached around his head. It was a little large as it was Iruka's own, but that connection made it that much more important. He smiled, as did his remaining clone. "Thanks Iruka-sensei!"

"You're welcome Naruto. You deserved it after tonight, especially listening to me despite using that power." The chunin looked fondly at his student. "We need to go to the Hokage's office and explain this mess. First, though, release the clone."

Naruto closed his eyes, crossed his fingers, and tried to release the technique only to discover it was already canceled. Frustrated with seeing the "clone" still there, he tried again, this time putting all of his remaining chakra into the effort. A new shroud appeared around his body as he focused on the technique.

"Naruto?" Iruka questioned in concern. As the blonde strained, the sky above flashed and thundered until lightning struck the clearing in which they stood.

The lightning's flash had blinded Iruka for a second, but as his sight came back he noticed there were changes to his favorite student. There were now nine tails that waved from his body, the body itself appearing roughly sixteen and without any of Naruto's previous baby fat. His hair was only a tad longer than before, but both the tips of blond hair and blond tails had a gradient from their golden color to a dark strawberry blonde. Naruto also exuded a new feel. It wasn't a dangerous or malevolent feeling, but one of raw power. It gave the instinctive feeling of "I must be careful around this person."

Across the clearing there stood a figure who released a similar feel. This version of Naruto had long blond hair with small red highlights down its length. It also had nine tails with similar highlights. Finally, however, this Naruto had certain... distinguishing characteristics. Her bust was large for sixteen, her face was certainly attractive, and her proportions were perfect.

"Hello," spoke the girl and Naruto's foxlike ears perked upwards at the soft voice. 'Wait, since when did I have pointed ears?' he thought. He looked at his new body in disbelief. He appreciated the muscle, but was confused by the tails and, apparently, ears. He sighed deeply, breathing in through his nose, and noticed he could smell the faintest traces of the animals that had passed by in the last few days. His eyes, despite the dark of the night, could see every detail of the girl, and he heard the quietest rustlings of some small animal in a tree on the other side of the clearing. Instinctively, he knew, almost as if he could imagine its outline, that it was a squirrel and her family, settling down for the night.

He looked at his female version. She looked very much like his Oiroke no Jutsu form, though without the pigtails as her hair draped naturally down her back. He reached his hand behind his head to ask a question as he normally did, but found a tail had already subconsciously done so.

"Don't ask questions right now, Naruto. We need to talk to the old man now," she said.

Both Naruto and Iruka were shocked to see a seemingly autonomous shadow clone. They nodded dumbly and Iruka put a hand on each of their shoulders to, with the last of his chakra, shunshin teleport them to the Hokage tower.

**This is the first chapter of my redo, as you can see. There has been an only minimal change to description and the like, but I hope it is still an improvement. The biggest changes will come with the Biju's lore.**

**Anyhow, review what you liked and didn't like and how it shapes up to the original.**


	2. A Little Explanation

**First off is obvious disclaimer – I don't own Naruto at all.**

**Second off is thanks for reviews. I got quite a few for all the work done on chapter one (next to no work for chapter one, actually) and hope to get just as many this time. It's almost soul shattering, though, to see this story get so many reviews while A Wish for the End only gets nearly four each chapter. But I guess that's just what the people want. **

**Anyhow, here goes chapter two and a little more change than in chapter one. The end goal is for it all to be a little less cliché and cheesy, but that's going to be hard. Let's face it, this story contains the following: borderline incest (the twins despite genetic changes), borderline bestiality (Kyuubi is a pairing even if she'll mainly be in human form), female Naruto, super-power Naruto, tailed-beast Naruto, the idea of "mates," and so much other junk. It is run on cliché. But that doesn't mean it has to be as bad as it was. Anyway, rant over. Let's start chapter two.**

A Little Explanation

The Hokage was only a little startled when three people appeared in his office in a swirl of leaves. He saw what appeared to be Naruto and what might be his Oiroke no Jutsu. After staring at their obvious anatomical changes he finally looked at Iruka. The poor chunin seemed to be swaying on his feet from his injuries against Mizuki and an overall adrenaline charged night. Still, he was a good ninja and stood at attention until his kage was ready. "Permission to leave for medical attention?" he asked. "Both Naruto and the girl were there the whole time and I need some first aid, at least, before I report."

The Hokage nodded his permission, summoning an Anbu to help Iruka to hospital. When the door shut, he turned to the two still in his office. Naruto faced his counterpart to question what she knew, but she just hit a pressure point on him that quickly knocked him out. She caught him before he hit the ground and carried him to the couch for the Hokage's guests before turning back to the Hokage. His only response was a questioning gaze and initiating a privacy jutsu.

"Naruko, it's nice to finally meet you. I must say, I was wondering what would become of your soul inside of Naruto. Do you mind telling me what has happened these past years?"

"Not at all, Hokage-sama," The girl smiled a winning smile. "Kyuubi is gone and twice as strong." The Hokage's mouth fell to the floor at the thought of a doubly strong Kyuubi. Hell, the last one nearly destroyed their village but a double strength Kyuubi? That could destroy nations.

Seeing his face she hurried to reassure him. "Don't worry, though. We hold its strength. In that seal, with the Kyuubi's help, I focused his chakra in my and my brother's souls. About a month ago, we finished. Now the Kyuubi has next to no chakra, and we are both the next nine tailed demons. The Kyuubi said that Naruto and I have, due to my time in him, become one and the same. We may look different, but we share thoughts and emotions, and know the deepest desires of each other's hearts. We may call each other siblings, but I am not in the same body I once had." She sat next to her brother's body.

"It is not the DNA of our parents or of Naruto that is inside of me, but a new DNA that Kyuubi helped me make. I was made for Naruto as his body has been restructured for me. We have become each other's perfect mates, which is a good thing. Without mates, demons as strong as us would go crazy in time." She stopped as if that explained everything.

The Hokage was attempting to understand, but this was quite the odd situation. "I believe I understand most of what you are saying, but there are a few things that confuse me. How did you get your body, what do you mean by the new nine tailed demons, how do you know so much about this, what does mate mean, and what is left of the Kyuubi?" Only now did he realize how lost he truly was. "One second, Naruko." He reached over to his intercom and paged his secretary. "Hold all business and tell the ninja sent after Naruto to go home. He's been found innocent and the traitor we caught is being punished currently. Also, have Inoichi come with all possible speed."

Naruko let out a cute, high-pitched yawn, her canines nearly sparkling from the desk light. "Well, I got my body when he used the demon chakra, youki, and accidentally pulled on my youki as well. He used the energy to form kage bunshin and I latched on so that my soul was placed in one of the bodies formed. When he called on his demonic chakra again, he called on most of what was available to him. It helped solidify my body into what I imagined myself to look like while I was sealed while so much excess youki changed his body so that he is now physically what he was mentally."

The Hokage nodded. "While something like this has never been recorded, very few people in our world know very much about youki. I suppose it is the answer that makes the most sense for now. But what do you mean when you call yourself demons? Are you two no longer human at all?"

"As much as I'd like to say we are humans, we really aren't anymore." She seemed sad to say this. "It's not that demons are inherently bad or anything, but it's just weird. And if it's weird for me and I knew it was coming, I don't even want to know how it will be for Naruto." Her right hand was stroking his face gently while she spoke. "We have Kyuubi's chakra, our own chakra, and now that I'm gone from his body, our minds will not fight as we have been doing. I'm not saying he'll be a genius, but we'll both be smarter than when two minds were occupying the same space. It was hard for him when he had to control three of us. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Kyuubi gave us her chakra and says that makes us family, like her kits. She wants us to summon a human form of her periodically to train us in using her chakra that we've gained. All that is left is her human form now, though it appears that she still has the tile King of Demons. It's thanks to her teachings and reading Naruto's thoughts that I know even half of what I'm telling you."

At this point, the Hokage was starting to understand Naruto's previous problems – the boy had never been very intelligent despite his peppy attitude. "I understand most of the situation now. My only question I have right now is how you two are 'mates.' You already said that you are linked and that it would be dangerous not to have a mate, but what truly is a mate to a demon?"

"Well, we have been together since birth, and our emotions and thoughts have constantly met as I have been in his body. Our minds fought, but also relied on each other and still do. We can talk by thinking to each other and if one of us dies..." Now the girl turned as red as the highlights in her hair as she thought of what else mates did. "We need each other for as long as we live and, if Kyuubi's right, we will never age past our late twenties. We're stuck with each other until we pass, and even then we might follow each other. There's a little more to it, but I don't want to talk about it until it happens." She stopped blushing and started lovingly caressing Naruto's face, her finger tracing his whiskers and making him let out a low growl, almost a purr. She turned red all over again and, suddenly, the door flew open and a worried looking Inoichi entered the room.

"What's wrong, Hokage-sama?" asked the middle-aged ninja, taking note of the teens in the room.

"I need you to enter Naruko-san's mind and see if she is telling me the truth." He turned back to Naruko who was pouting cutely. "It's not that I believe you're lying, but one can't be too careful with something as dangerous as the Kyuubi."

"About what, Hokage-sama, and who is this?" asked the man.

"Just let me fall asleep so you can talk to my brother and me at the same time. Jiji can tell you a story while you wait," said Naruko, yawning at the end and curling up with Naruto. It had been a tiring birthday for her.

Inoichi listened with interest as the Hokage told Naruto's and Naruko's story. It was hard to believe that such nice children were demons, or that demons could be good. But he did believe his Hokage and he didn't hate the twins so he would give them a chance.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Nearly an hour later the Hokage watched as Inoichi came back from the children's mindscape. "What the fuck have you been doing?" He asked the Hokage in a dangerously quiet voice. "Two extremely innocent minds have nearly been destroyed by your negligence. Naruto has been beaten several times in this village, when he wasn't neglected. He's thought about ending his life before, but he didn't want to make the few people who liked him sad. You almost lost two of the most loyal ninja I have ever had the pleasure and pain of evaluating." He left off for a moment while he collected his thoughts. It wasn't good to be angry at your employer, especially when that employer was the dictator of your village and _could _kill you with minimal effort.

"As far as I could tell the Kyuubi is harmless now, shackled by the seal and with minimal chakra. The children have a full nine tails each, not just the physical look of it, though they have no idea how to use it yet. The fox said that she can be summoned and may even expand that to a kitsune summoning contract once they impress her." The Hokage seemed nonplussed by this information. He had been expecting something along those lines, after all, even if the full summoning contract was an unexpected surprise.

"There was one more thing, I found, Sandaime-sama," Inoichi continued. "Although I had been sent there only to check the honesty of their statements, I noticed something else out of professional habit. Naruto seemed different. He was much more expressive and dynamic. Naruko, though, seemed to exert a calming influence over him. It may be that their combind psyche is what helped make the Naruto we all knew and that this new Naruto might be a little less accepting and a little more hot-headed."

Sarutobi sighed. This was _exactly_ what he needed to hear. The already hyper Naruto would now be more impulsive. Great. At least Naruko would help quell that a little. "Thank you, Inoichi, for both your affirmation of their statements and for your observations. You'll find B-rank mission pay coming your way."

"There is one final thing I wish to discuss, however." Inoichi seemed quite serious here. "There situation will improve or there will be consequences. The Yamanaka clan may not be able to pick up and leave if nothing improves, but we can make your life, and their enemies' lives, hell if you do nothing to help them further. I know enough about bureaucracy to keep you doing paperwork 24/7 as punishment if need be." Inoichi gave an evil smile while Sarutobi held onto his pokerface. Inoichi only noticed the slight tension in his face due to his experience in interrogation. The blonde's smile instantly lightened as he stood to leave. "Excellent, call me if any of you three need me." In a swirl of wind that signified a teleport he had left the room.

The Hokage slumped in his chair once the Yamanaka clan head was gone and started to figure out what he could do with the children. He soon got an idea and started to fill out the paperwork involved. The endless damn paperwork that Inoichi had threatened him with. He sighed and looked at the teens, holding hands in their sleep. He couldn't help but smile at their peace, but his smile did droop upon seeing Naruto shiver in his sleep, curling into a ball. He would make amends for them. His fire rekindled, he called for Jiraiya and an Anbu named Tenzo...

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" asked an Anbu as he walked into the Hokage's office. The man was sturdy, but not huge and, although tall, but not a giant. His hair was a generic brown and underneath his mask his eyes were an equally forgettable brown. Tenzo was an agent amazing for infiltration and espionage due to his appearance alone. When his unique jutsu were added to the mix, he became one of Anbu's very best.

"I have a mission for you, long term, Tenzo." Seeing the man nod his acceptance, Sarutobi continued. "Your name for this mission and the foreseeable future will be Yamato – your normal 'civilian' name. Secondly, you will be working with Jiraiya. We'll have to talk with him to determine how much he can help. You will receive A-rank pay until your mission is complete."

"And what will I receive, sensei?" asked a red cloaked white haired man who had just come in through the window. "I'm not sure what could be better than digging up information for Konoha while having plenty of time to, um, research." This man was much larger and even taller than Yamato. He carried a large scroll on his back and wore an odd half-dome helmet with two blunt spikes on top with the symbol for "oil" between them.

"How about a chance to watch over both of your godchildren who are also, it seems, your grandchildren?" Sarutobi smirked, knowing he would have gotten the toad sannin's attention.

"How the hell could they be my grandchildren? I never had a child in the first place," asked the incredulous Jiraiya. "Sure I've been with plenty of women over time, but I've always made sure that nothing ever came of them.

"Well, you succeeded for the most part. However, you apparently missed one single time. We honestly don't know the exact moment of conception and Tsunade only mentioned that she had run into you at a bar one night, but apparently that one time was enough. The next morning she had used a genjutsu to convince you it was all a dream. She was planning on telling you if the birth went well, and it did. However, she was given the wrong medical records by a jealous woman who was once her rival and told she miscarried. In reality her son waited and was never picked up. He went to the orphanage and had a hard life, but he made a name for himself. Not to worry, though, that snake of a woman who caused all this mess has long been… dealt with."

Jiraiya was shocked, for he knew of only one blond child who fit this description. "Are you trying to tell me," he slowly asked, "that I was the father, sensei, and spy for the same man?"

"Yes, Jiraiya," said Yamato, who had pieced together the story. "Minato was your son, student, and Hokage."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Jiraiya queried, nearly lost for words.

"We only found out fairly recently, mere months ago, when there was a case of potential malpractice by the very same doctor. It had been an odd case, a ninja who had rebroken a bone that had just been declared fixed questioned her treatment. In the end, she had committed at least seven acts of malpractice and gotten away with them for years. It was only when looking through her records that we saw everything that she did."

Jiraiya's face had gotten rather stony throughout the story. This was his son and grandson that he had been cheated from raising, after all. "As I said, she has been dealt with and I can assure that she is no longer in any position to harm others. After we found out we tried to contact the two of you, but Tsunade ran from our nin and you have only just returned to the village."

The sannin seemed satisfied that his teacher hadn't simply screwed him over and was ready to continue with the conversation at hand, though he would kill that woman if they ever met. "And," Jiraiya asked, finally letting his curiosity on the subject breach the surface, "what is our local demon tamer doing here?"

Yamato smiled at the name. His bloodline, you see, was the legendary Mokuton of the Shodaime Hokage. Although he had never needed to restrain a demon, it was said that his bloodline was capable of holding back several tails of strength.

"He is here to keep our local angels out of trouble. You see, Naruto and, apparently Naruko, have become the new nine tailed kitsune and need teachers that are able to hold up to the demand of controlling this energy. You can see some of the changes if you merely look at them on the couch." Naruto and Naruko each had curled tails around the other protectively, something that both men had long since noticed. "Therefore, I would wish for their grandfather, a figure they may respect, and a 'demon tamer,' one who might be able to curb an excess of their power, to teach them. Do you two accept?"

Both men looked at the teens. Naruko was pulled close to Naruto, and looked like she would never let go if she had her choice. "Yes," both men said simultaneously. "But," Jiraiya said, "first you must tell us how Naruko escaped and how this change took place." The Hokage grunted his agreement while searching his desk drawer for his tobacco and pipe. This would be a long night of explanation.

**Well, a couple of things changed. I've made no illusion to Kyuubi's gender unlike last time. Inoichi was a little more reasonable. Both Naruko and Inoichi had more reasonable explanations than last time – both still forced in my opinion but not as bad as last time by a long shot. There was very little change to the very end, but I did make the Hokage sigh a little less as he had done so quite often the first time around.**

**In any case, review if you love it, hate it, have any suggestions, want to compare it to the previous version, have a question, or want to post your favorite ice cream flavor. Mind you, I will be disheartened if there are more ice cream flavors than actual reviews as that would be somewhat more soul crushing than usual.**


	3. Teams (may be edited)

**Things to change: bashing, instant relationships (just add water), some of the mob scene, and overall crappy writing. Also, the original overused hand behind head, sighing, blushing, and sweat dropping in almost every chapter. What was I thinking when writing this the first time?**

**I had to laugh my butt off when I was looking at how people responded to this rewrite and it has been fairly positive (among people who responded through PM or review), though it doesn't have nearly the same amount of follows or favs yet. Anyways, the reason it was funny was the poor anonymous reviewer who was faithfully commenting as he read through the story, saying he liked it and offering what was cool. He then reached chapter 13 and could only say, "Oh, come on!" to the fact that I officially ended 18 Tails just as he discovers it. If you're reading this anonymous, I'd PM you with a sorry but I can't if you're not logged in. In any case, keep on supporting and I'll keep on writing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Reader reaction: Honestly, I expected more reviews for these first two chapters but it's no big deal. I guess the major reason is that I wrote this story more for all of you than for myself for once and I expected reciprocation in the reviews and PMs. Still there were quite a few reviews and quite a few thoughtful reviews that gave me some inspiration and helped me close plot holes. I thank all of you who responded, including those who gave me their ice cream flavors – mine has to be mint chocolate chip by the way. With extra chocolate, preferably.**

**Second last is that I encourage you to check out some of my other stuff too. A lot of it is only in the beginning stages, but if I had support for those stories the way you're supporting this story, I'm confident they'd improve and that I'd be inspired to work on them more. Finally (really long AN for me, I know) is that my poll is up on my profile about what you like about the writing of a fanfic. Feel free to vote (up to three answers each) or just check out the results.**

Teams

Sun shone through the panoramic windows near the back of the Hokage's office, crawling across the floor until it caressed the eyes of the still sleeping Namikaze siblings who had shifted to lying on a bed of tails on the ground in the night. One could see how their eyes fluttered awake in the light, sleepily opening to view each other. Sapphire stared into sapphire as sunshine tangled with sunshine. "I was afraid that when I woke up, that it would be a dream," Naruto mumbled out. "But you're still here, Naruko-chan."

They may not have been introduced last night while he was awake, but he had been there when she had explained it all to Inoichi in their shard mindscape and he was pleased to see it wasn't all just a dream. This beautiful girl in front of him truly cared for him, and he couldn't help but care for her in return. It was the nature of an orphan to accept and return affection where it could be found, and it almost hurt to see how easily he had let her into his heart.

Naruko reached over and kissed his cheek, whispering, "I've always been here Naruto-kun. I just needed to wait for you to call me." They stayed silent for a moment, just feeling each other's warmth until they heard the door to the Hokage's office open and a man in a jounin uniform walked in.

"Hello Naruto, Naruko," the man greeted fairly cheerfully. "My name is Yamato and I will be escorting you to the academy for team assignments today."

Naruto quickly jumped to his feet and pumped a fist in the air. "I still get to be a ninja? Awesome!"

Naruko was a little more reserved in her response, merely yawning and sitting up. "I'm not even a ninja yet," said Naruko, "but I'd like to be."

"Between Inoichi's mental evaluation and your physical capabilities as seen by Iruka and sensed by the Hokage, you have both been promoted to genin of Konohagakure." He grinned and held up a shopping bag. "The Hokage has had some suitable clothing ready for you in here, as well as hitai-ates. Please change quickly and meet me in the hall when you are ready to leave. We let you two sleep in, so now you'll have to hurry to be in time." The strange man left the room, leaving the bag on the ground.

Naruko slowly got up, reluctant to leave the floor that had been delightfully warmed by eighteen tails the night before. Naruto, on the other hand, nearly disappeared with the speed in which he rushed for the clothing, excitement building as he went to open one of the first gifts he'd had in his life.

Naruko walked over to him as he pulled the clothes from the bag. "Whoah," Naruto said, "They look really nice and sturdy too." He said as he pulled out two black outfits with a small flare of burnt orange.

"And they're not a glaring orange either," Naruko commented while looking at the clothes in approval while Naruto nodded his agreement. Naruto had always hated, and by extension Naruko did too, that they would only be sold bright orange clothing. It's not that he didn't like orange, but as a civilian it made him look stupid and as a ninja he didn't think such a bright color was for the best. It was almost like people wanted him to be easily spotted if he was ever on a mission. Naruto turned back to face his sister, smiling at the sleep look she still displayed. "You're cute when you're tired."

Naruko yawned, slowly flexing and stretching with a feline grace as she tried to get her blood pumping. "Thanks, Naru-kun." She calmly smiled as she took the obviously female outfit from him. She thought the skirt would look a little funny on him. They started to change, hardly awkward in each other's presence, before checking out their new outfits. They had an obvious look of approval when examining the other's clothing.

Naruto's was a black Anbu style with extra scroll and weapon holders built in. It came with black boots and gloves as did Naruko's, but hers was a more fitted top for her sixteen year old body and a nearly knee length skirt with scroll holsters that strapped to her legs and a belt with weapon holsters in it. She also wore tighter shorts underneath so as not to give a free show. Both had dark orange highlights that weren't quite subtle, but were much more suited to stealth than Naruto's old outfit. It was only upon reaching the other's face that they realized that they were truly eyeing each other up.

Naruto blushed a little, realizing he had just seen Naruko without a bra on. He hadn't been perverted at the time, but now the memory of how she looked under her clothes made his blood rush somewhere else, a feeling he wasn't quite used to as it had rarely happened when his body was that of a thirteen year old.

Sensing the emotions running through his head, she looked towards him as he looked away. She too blushed; she had gone out of her way to check out his lean abs and muscular chest before he had pulled his new shirt on. 'He really is hot,' Naruko thought.

Naruto heard it and couldn't help but think, 'That's the first time anyone's ever said that.'

Naruko suddenly stopped in her tracks as she heard his thought as well. Kyuubi has once told her that they weren't supposed to be able to talk like this until they were mates on a physical level, not just an emotional level. 'Maybe it's a side effect of how our bodies changed?' she wondered. And then, aloud, "Naruto, I think you should know something."

"What is it hime?" asked the goofy blond as he broke away from his train of thought.

"We, after all this time together, are, well..." she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"What's wrong? You said we partially shared a mind since we were born," he walked over and grabbed her small hands in his, and she blushed a little. "After that, what could possibly worry you? I know we've only truly met yesterday, but I feel like I already know so much about you. I might not know your favorite food or how you like to pass time, or any of the little things that make you, you. But I still feel like I could share anything with you." He looked into her eyes and she saw his sincerity. "For some reason, I really want you to trust me."

"Well, like I touched on last night, we are mates. We are literally made for each other and we're connected even when we're apart." Now she talked from mind to mind. 'We can even talk like this.'

'That's so cool!' he thought back. He thought it was the coolest thing ever and he had no idea how he was doing it, yet it came naturally to him to perform. 'I don't really get what it means to be mates, but it feels good to finally be with someone who really cares about me,' he thought to her as he rubbed his nose against hers. He let go of one hand, caught a stray hair, and tucked it behind her ear. "That's why I'm okay with being mates, whatever that means."

Naruko was now a brighter shade of red than before as she gave her mate a peck on the lips before turning around and finishing changing by putting on the weapons holsters. She walked over to the door where he was waiting, took his hand in hers, and dragged him out into the hallway where Yamato was waiting.

They started to walk with the jounin to the academy. The looks they received as they walked through town were extremely malevolent. The people may have always called Naruto a demon, but now it seemed his appearance proved them right. The sounds of, "Now the demon is on the outside too" and "Demon bitch," flew after the teens. Yamato grimaced at the killing intent the civilians let out while Naruto bared his teeth and growled at them when he heard the comments directed at Naruko. It surprised Yamato how defensive Naruto was being of the girl despite them just meeting in person yesterday.

The jounin carefully observed, ready to step in at a moment's notice, as Naruko dropped the hand she was holding and instead leaned on Naruto as they walked, partially to calm him and partially out of fear. She may have witnessed similar things before, but it was from an observer's standpoint inside the seal and it had rarely been this bad before. Yamato found that they understood each other better than he had expected as she had calmed Naruto down rather quickly.

By the time they were only a few streets from the academy, there was a small mob of people that blocked the road in front of them. These people had long been some of the worst troublemakers and the smell of alcohol was easily smelled in their general direction. It seemed that the blondes' new appendages had finally inspired enough rage for the crowd to act while their liquid courage lasted. Without the beer, many of those present were actually quite reasonable. Too much to drink, however, affected even the most level headed people.

One man stepped forward and said, "Yur gonna want to step aside. There's these two demons following you we'll gladly takce care of them fur ya."

Yamato looked around as if for the demons mentioned, "I only see two promising young ninja here," he told the drunkard. "Now, leave before there are consequences."

"You don't seem to get what's going on," said a second man who had appeared with a group behind the trio. The first group seemed to be unarmed, just inebriated, but this group had everything from knives to spades. They were obviously out for blood. "We are here to kill the demon," causing Naruko to hold Naruto tighter, "and that she-demon that's with him." Naruko could barely hold Naruto back anymore as he started to release a low, guttural growl that scared the civilians stiff. Yamato took this as his chance to end the situation before it went out of control

"Mokuton: Growth," was all the man said as he flashed through several signs and hit the ground with an open palm. Vines and branches from nearby trees started to tie down their adversaries while Yamato knocked out the closest man, the one who had talked first. He unfortunately failed to see one man who had approached from a side alley.

The man raised a butcher's knife and jumped from hiding, aiming straight at Naruko. Naruto didn't even think, merely react, as he caught the attacker's wrist with two of his tails and, with a quick jerk, cleanly snapped the wrist. The man rolled on the ground in pain while Yamato summoned Anbu. "Take them all to Ibiki," said the retired Anbu captain.

"The drunks were probably too hammered to truly realize what was going on, but they deserve just as much punishment as the others for going this far. Make sure you give _special treatment_ to those three," he added while pointing towards the spokesmen and the man who had attacked, the words special treatment sending a chill down the teens' spines. He turned back to the Namikaze siblings and gave a small, though slightly grim smile. "After a session with Ibiki, you can be assured this kind of thing won't happen again. Let's continue on."

They reached the academy building and Naruto reached for the door, only to stop in fear of what his class might do to the new him and his sister. After all, he had just been assaulted by about thirty men and he was feeling a little paranoid after that experience. Naruko smiled, thinking of Shikimaru, Chouji, and Naruto's other friends. Naruto's heart, feeling her optimism in the face of his fear, lightened some. He would deal with what came, but he'd hope for the best.

Trying to lighten the mood in general he looked at her and remembered what she had said in the room. 'So, I look hot, do I?' he thought to her, getting her to give a blush that could put Hinata to shame. She had forgotten he heard her think that.

As her blush reached its deepest red Naruto opened the door and gestured with his hand saying, "Ladies first." She walked in, tails all in a bunch due to her embarrassment, and Naruto followed while Yamato stayed outside.

Naruto causally looked around the room as he entered. He noticed one black haired boy he didn't know doodling in the corner, but the rest of the class seemed quite shocked at Naruto's new look. Between clothes, physical body, and new foxlike characteristics, they barely recognized him. A few of the boys, however, stared slack-jawed at the beautiful girl that Naruto led by the hand to a seat near the back. Sure, the tails and ears were weird, but, because of the rest of the package, they didn't mind in the slightest. Naruko was shocked when she smelled the hormones the boys were inadvertently letting off and Naruto growled defensively at the smell. She hadn't expected preteens to be so forward. Naruto, unlike Naruko, didn't know what the smell was but he did know that he didn't like it.

Kiba, also the person releasing the most prominent hormones, was the first to break his stupor and approach the couple. "Hey dead last, you know only people who passed their test are supposed to be here." Step one, insult Naruto. Step two, show that girl how much better he was. "And you, babe, could do much better than the pest here."

Naruto responded with surprising calmness in his voice. "Kiba, both Naruko and I have our hitai-ates. We are both ninja of the village hidden in the leaves." He stood in front of Naruko who was still sitting down. His tails were rigid, forming a solid wall between the dog boy and the kitsune girl, and he emitted a fairly constant quiet growl despite the lack of aggression in his voice.

Naruko brushed his tails aside, reached around Naruto and, while running her fingers through his soft blonde hair, kissed him full on the lips. It wasn't a deep kiss or anything - they had just met yesterday after all - but it clearly sent a message. He kissed her back and pulled her close with one arm when she pulled away from his lips. "As you can see, Kiba, Naruto is certainly man enough for me."

Kiba glared at her, knowing he had lost this round. Trying to regain some of his pride, he changed the subject. "And what happened to you? You got tall and grew tails and fox ears. That doesn't happen overnight."

In their heads both Namikazes laughed to each other about that as it truly had happened overnight. "Well Kiba," Naruto finally said, "I'm afraid that's not your business. The Hokage himself told us not to spread it around too much and if you can't be trusted to take a bath on a regular basis then you certainly can't be trusted to keep our secret."

Kiba growled at Naruto and was ready to retaliate when Iruka, who must have appeared during the conversation, started yelling at students to sit. The canine boy felt something new emanating from Naruto and knew instinctively that there was a power struggle occurring. Inuzuka clan members were rather close to their dog partners and it allowed him to sense some of what was going on. If he wanted to remain in charge, he would need to get the upper hand. Kiba opened his mouth for one last parting remark, but Iruka singled him out. "Kiba, stop harassing Naruto and Naruko and sit down! Sheesh, even Akamaru can do that."

Kiba grumbled and left the kitsune alone for now, only to notice Akamaru had actually already sat down, relaxing on Naruto's lap. Kiba just kept glaring at Naruto while the blonde gently petted the small dog. Naruto had just about won the dominance game if Akamaru respected him enough to relax like that.

"Congratulations," said the scar faced and still bandaged chunin. "You have all passed the academy's final test to become genin. Although this is a happy day for all of you, it is also a serious moment in your life. You need to recognize that, from this day forward, you will be expected to put the needs of the village in front of your personal needs. You are not children any more, or even teenagers, but full grown adults. You are old enough to fight, old enough to die, old enough to drink, and old enough to screw as the saying goes, though I hope you will hold off on dying and screwing for a little while longer yet. I will now break you into your genin teams and your jounin instructors will arrive soon. They will further explain your duties as ninja and help you become genin the village can be proud of."

Iruka continued on with his speech about responsibilities and the Will of Fire. All went as usual until team seven was called. "Team seven will be a combat and reconnaissance squad with Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Sai. Your jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." For those of you unfamiliar with Sakura, she had one of the largest crushes possible on Sasuke. Despite being trained to be a ninja, she had literally neglected parts of her training in order to get closer to him. Of course, she went apeshit, claiming that her love was unbeatable, while Sai – the plain looking boy who had been drawing when the Namikaze twins walked in – walked over to where Sakura and the Uchiha sat. "It'll be good to work with you, needle dick-kun. You too, flat chest-chan." He sat down with a sickeningly sweet smile, ignoring the flabbergasted look on Sakura's face and the vaguely shocked look on Sasuke's face. That was about all that could be expected from the emotionless Uchiha boy anyway.

Not wanting a confrontation to start before the jounin sensei even arrived, Iruka quickly continued on while Sai sat down. Eventually he reached team twelve. "Team twelve will be a heavy combat squad with Naruto and Naruko Uzumaki. When a third suitable member is found, they will join you. Your instructors will be special jounin Yamato and sannin Jiraiya. It says here you will also have a third sensei that will help from time to time."

Many of the guys were bummed that they didn't have Naruko in their team, and two or three girls even seemed disappointed that they didn't have the new Naruto. He was better looking and seemed more intelligent than the old Naruto, plus the tails and ears were just amazingly cute to a bunch of barely teenage girls.

Sakura raised her hand as she had noted something odd. "Why do the dead last and his girlfriend get three sensei, one a sannin, while the rest of us only have one jounin?"

Sasuke, finally over Sai's comment, spoke up as well. "Yes, why do I only get one sensei?"

Iruka shrugged. "I was told that only one sensei was assigned while Jiraiya of the sannin volunteered and the third sensei is also a volunteer. If that doesn't satisfy you, then ask Naruto or the Hokage. I don't know anymore, and I wouldn't tell you anymore if I did. As I said five minutes ago, the needs of the village now outweigh your needs and wants and the village can't spare that many teachers for each team. However, I believe you will be able to learn a lot from your sensei." He turned from the aggravated, yet understanding, Uchiha and back to the rest of the class. "Be back here at one to meet your sensei. Dismissed."

The group started to leave and Akamaru ran off after Kiba when Naruto woke up the sleeping pup. Naruto impulsively took Naruko's hand and she shyly followed his lead as they left the room. Naruko eventually spoke up about lunch. "There's something I really want to try. I've seen how much you love Ichiraku's, but it's just not the same tasting it second-hand. Let's get some ramen." Naruto smiled and led the way. After all, who was he to pass up on ramen? Yamato followed them from a discreet distance to make sure no more villagers attempted what happened this morning.

They were strolling at a fairly slow pace and were joined by Chouji, Shino, and Shikimaru along the way. They reached the ramen stand and Naruto ordered ten bowls of miso and ten of the day's special for Naruko and himself. If she was anything like him, she'd devour it too. The others were a little more conservative, Chouji ordering an impressive six while Shino and Shikimaru only ordered two.

They made pleasant conversation for a while getting to know Naruko while she got to meet the boys from the real world for the first time. The truth was that Shino and Shikimaru had really come for answers. Unfortunately, asking was too troublesome for Shikimaru so that duty fell to Shino. After talking about their teammates and speculating who the sensei could be while Shino hinted at getting answers. After enough dodging the subject, however, Shikimaru let his curiosity get the better of him and was actually the one to finally bluntly ask what everyone wanted to know.

"So did you grow so tall so quickly and what's up with the tails? And why does Naruko look like the Oiroke no Jutsu you pranked Iruka-sensei with? Did you base it on her or something?" the boy asked in a bored drone. If Naruto hadn't known Shikimaru for so long he could have sworn that the boy didn't really care and, in fact, Naruko wasn't sure if the boy was actually curious or just making conversation.

Chouji stopped eating, noodles hanging out of his mouth, and stared wide eyed at Naruto and Naruko. That's what had been bugging him. He slurped up the noodle and then had his say. "Yeah," he said eagerly, "since when did you stop wearing all that orange Naruto?"

Everyone else, the ramen chefs at Ichiraku's – Teuchi and his daughter Ayame – included, simply looked exasperated that the young genin had just now noticed the change. Ayame, however, cared for Naruto like he was a little brother and she also enjoyed gossip so she pleaded with him. "Come on Naruto; tell us," she pouted out.

The kitsune looked at each other and the others could have sworn they were talking without saying anything. In fact they were. Naruko was hesitant while Naruto was all for it but, since it was people they really trusted and since their tails were in plain sight, they decided to tell them most of the truth.

After swearing their audience to secrecy Naruto told of the sealing, Mizuki's traitorous actions in framing Naruto, Naruko's release from his seal, and the fact that they were mates. Naruto still didn't understand all of the implications of having a mate, but he knew it meant that she would never leave him if she could help it and that was enough for now. Naruko actually had a little more to add when Shino asked quite the important question. "For what reason did the Yondaime need to seal you inside with the Kyuubi?"

Now, Naruko hadn't ever had truly direct contact with the Kyuubi, being in more of an in between area of the seal where she could share thoughts with Naruto as a form of conscience or occasionally talk with Kyuubi. What Kyuubi had said in one of their short conversations was that, apparently, Naruko's soul had been needed to monitor and jumpstart the process of absorbing the Kyuubi's chakra. Without her help it would have taken decades for one of them to get a full nine tails but this way allowed them both to gain the same power and in far less time. Naruko didn't have an exact answer about the Oiroke no Jutsu's similarities to her, but simply guessed that since Naruto had been trying to make a female version of himself he had likely stumbled subconsciously across her in the seal and the end result was a body that looked much like her. It was only a theory, however.

Throughout the explanation, Ayame had been slowly stroking his tails, barely even realizing what she had been doing. It wasn't unlike subconsciously petting a pet simply because they are in reach. By the time they had finished talking, the boys and ramen cooks had almost as many questions as they had before lunch had started. Naruko, surprisingly, hadn't been a huge fan of ramen and had only had four bowls, leaving her remaining six to be split among the boys. It wasn't that she disliked it, but she didn't have Naruto's taste for it either.

Thirty bowls of ramen and sixty minutes after they had been dismissed, all five of the ramen eaters were back in the academy. Kiba noticed their entrance and decided to try his luck one last time. Although he was just about ready to admit that Naruto was superior, at least in a battle of wits, he couldn't let it got quite that easily. "So, Naruko, you're new around here, right?"

Naruko looked at Naruto to see if she could get him to take care of Kiba. She didn't want to do anything that might hurt his feelings. Unfortunately, Naruto was talking with Hinata right now. "I guess you could say that."

Kiba smirked that he hadn't just been shut down at the starting line. "You know, I'd be glad to show you around some time, take you to eat somewhere."

Naruko giggled a little at the boy's offer. He honestly wasn't bad looking and did seem to care about his shinobi life, but she already had a mate. "I'm honored, and I may have to take you up on that sometime, but just as friends." She stuck out her hand and he took it in his but, instead of shaking it, he used it to pull her into a seat. He leaned forward and, despite her attempt at trying to push him back, went in for a kiss. He didn't know how to kiss exceptionally well or anything, but it was certainly a way of claiming "territory" from Naruto.

Naruto had been talking to Hinata. "I understand you like me, but I already have someone, and so do you."

"B-but I don't love him, Naruto-kun. He's not like you." Hinata felt as if her world was collapsing around her as Naruto had finally noticed her emotions and was now shutting her down. It was something that she had nightmares about in the past.

"And you think you love me?" he asked. He knew what she thought she felt when Naruko had pointed it out, but they were just teenagers. He barely knew what he felt for Naruko, but he knew that he could never feel it for anyone else quite the same way so he had tried to let Hinata down gently. That hadn't gone well.

"Tell you what," he said, seeing what Kiba was trying to do to Naruko, "I'll give you one kiss to see. Close your eyes." Hinata turned a bright red and did so, and slightly puckered her lips in the slightly awkward fashion of a girl who has not yet had her first kiss. Naruto quickly replaced himself with Naruko and then with Hinata so that Kiba, at the lack of resistance, fell forward and kissed Hinata instead. Kiba kissed his betrothed. He was about to pull away, not willing to do any more than a small kiss, when he realized that it was Hinata and that she wasn't resisting. So their kiss went on a little longer.

Hinata, still with eyes closed, said, "I think I really do love you, Naruto-kun. That was amazing." That lasted until she opened her eyes. "Kiba-kun? Wait. What?"

Kiba, never expecting Hinata to return the kiss the way she did had made it just a little deeper and found that she was a great kisser. He backed off a little, worried about how she might react. "Well, I'm not Naruto, and I'm not sure about love, but we'll see how it goes. After all, we are engaged." Hinata gently took his hand and turned a deeper red previously only seen around Naruto. Maybe Kiba had hope after all.

Naruko, on the other hand, was content where she was. The replacements had ended with her on Naruto's lap, his arms wrapped around her waist. His hands were lightly touching her midriff through her clothes and she didn't even know if he realized what he was doing, but those simple touches had gotten her all bothered. Now she turned her body around to stare into his eyes, feeling the desire for more and realizing she would not be getting any right now.

"What's wrong Naruko-hime? Feeling a little hot in here?" Naruto asked. Apparently he did realize what he had done. Naruko, now remembering where they were, seemed quite embarrassed upon realizing that she was essentially straddling him. It was a small awkward moment until everyone heard a smack, a thud, a little giggle, and then the scratching of pen on paper.

**Well this chapter is done with and next chapter starts some fairly big changes to the Biju lore, I believe. Yet again, I want to thank those of you who reviewed. Some of you had great things to say, but there are two people I wanted to thank the most. A reviewer who's name I can't find now (I'm so sorry, your review was amazing) and Delltablacknaruto each addressed one huge plot hole each, both centered around Minato's parentage.**


	4. Mates

**Well, reviews have been cool. I would never complain about getting more, but I also won't complain if I just keep getting what I've gotten so far. It almost has 10 reviews per chapter – my second highest after my Avatar story which got 104 reviews on 4 chapters.**

**Anyhow, I've gotten a lot of people commenting on my writing style (which is better in this chapter, I feel) and a few questions raised here and there on the fine points. In the end, I'm surprised at the amount of reviews leading towards the negative, but they've all been thoughtful for the most part so I'm okay with it. Remember, if you post with a question or a comment, I'll get back to you nine times out of ten and talk with you about it.**

Mates

Last time on Dragon Ba… Sorry, last time on 19 Tails…

_"What's wrong Naruko-hime? Feeling a little hot in here?" Naruto asked. Apparently he did realize what he had done. Naruko, now remembering where they were, seemed quite embarrassed upon realizing that she was essentially straddling him. It was a small awkward moment until everyone heard a smack, a thud, a little giggle, and then the scratching of pen on paper._

The class turned from their conversations to witness the odd sight of a large jounin with his head buried into the floor from a rather strong punch. He quickly recovered, standing up and regaining his composure. He was a fairly tall man, muscular with broad shoulders. He had spiky black hair and an unlit cigarette in one hand. He brushed the imaginary dust from his green flak jacket on top of his fairly standard jounin outfit – the sash he wore at his side the only exception from the norm – while throwing a glare at the woman next to him.

Said woman was quite the looker. She was average height with wild black hair that ran down her back. She wore an interesting outfit of a fairly revealing dress that looked to be made out of bandages with a thorn motif and red highlights. The highlights continued to her bright red lipstick and red painted nails which her carmine eyes were examining as if she hadn't just knocked her male counterpart through the floor in rage for the look he had when viewing the blondes.

To the side stood two more familiar men: Yamato and Jiraiya. Yamato, as always, seemed fairly passive though there was the smallest smirk on his face from watching the beat down his fellow male had received. Jiraiya just gave a small perverted giggle, putting away the notepad that he had written something on.

"Ah," Iruka sighed. "Kurenai-san, was it necessary to do that to Asuma-san inside of the building? The floor will cost money to be fixed, you know."

Kurenai looked over at the chunin teacher before giving a slight nod and light apology. "I apologize, Umino-san. I will make sure he is only punished outside from now on."

"Hey, don't I get any say in-" Asuma started, but Iruka cut him off before the conversation escalated. It wasn't good for strong ninja to argue in a closed space like his classroom – it always ended in property damage.

"Teams 8, 10, and 12, your sensei have arrived." He turned to the jounin. "They're all yours, now. I'm trusting you to continue where I left off as sensei." It was truly a hard thing for Iruka as he had come to care for his students over the years, even for Naruko after their rather odd meeting.

Kurenai was first off, starting off quite crisply with little inflection in her voice. "Team 8 is to meet me at training ground 8 in fifteen minutes. Tardiness will not be tolerated." She was out the door soon after she finished speaking. Shino and Hinata quickly followed, not wanting to find out what the punishment for being late could be while Kiba followed a second later. He got that she was a jounin, but he didn't understand what a cold woman stuck on her looks could teach him. He'd learn to respect her soon enough.

Asuma kept staring out the door after Kurenai. Knowing her mood swings, either everything would be all right for them in a few minutes or he'd be sleeping on the couch for the next few days and all for teasing her about the blondes' position. But he had work to do now.

"Team 10, you're with me." He slowly ambled out of the room, lighting a cigarette as he left the room, much to Iruka's protest that he was still inside. Ino and Chouji hurried after him to make a good impression, the blonde Yamanaka dragging Shikimaru behind her by one leg while he tried sleep and ignore the disturbance of being manhandled.

"And you two, blondie one and blondie two, you're coming with me. But first, would you mind taking that pose again?"

"You old pervert!" Naruto shouted while Naruko just seemed to shrink back a little in her shyness.

As the sannin and blonde upstart argued, Sasuke assessed his situation. It was not good that those two got a sannin and two other teachers while he only got one jounin, but the blondes probably needed him as a teacher in order to catch up to everyone else. He eyed Yamato, assuming him to be his sensei. He seemed strong, but only time would tell. He walked right up to the man.

"You better have some good ninjutsu to teach me, I need to get stronger as fast as I can," he declared, half requesting and half demanding.

Yamato turned to stare at the boy in what first seemed to be amusement until, despite the smile on his face, his slowly growing killing intent truly cowed Sasuke. "I do have some good ninjutsu and you are weak, but I am not your teacher. If I was your teacher, the very first thing I taught you would be a very painful one – the reason you should respect your superiors in the ninja life. You wouldn't want me to think you were being disrespectful," he said while his smile grew even more demonic. "Would you?"

Sasuke quickly found himself taking a step back and shaking his head in the negative. "Good, I'm glad we understand each other." The killing intent receded as Yamato broke up the quickly brewing fight between Naruto and Jiraiya and led the group outside.

Squads 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 were quickly picked up leaving just team 7 behind. After an hour, Iruka even left for the day. Sasuke was bored to hell and back as Sai seemed to do nothing but scribble at his desk while Sakura tapped on her desk while trying to start a conversation with him. The _skitch skitch skitch_ of Sai's pen and _tap top tap _of Sakura's fingers were driving him insane by the time hour three started. It all became too much and he gave a very loud, very unUchiha like growl of frustration, only to lean back too far forward in his chair and have it fall to the ground.

When Kakashi walked into the room not two seconds later he saw Sakura shrieking in fright while heavily shaking Sasuke's unconscious body to wake him up. Sai still hadn't stopped drawing, paying no attention to the theatrics of his teammates. Kakashi walked back out the door before he was noticed. He didn't feel like doing this right now and, honestly, how much would it hurt if he was only another half hour late?

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Team 12 had been traveling along the "ninja rooftop express" while in Konoha and then by tree jumping to reach their destination quickly, but it had still taken twenty minutes to arrive at their training ground. Although a hassle to get there until the genin learned the shunshin, it was ideal. It was far enough from the center of Konoha that if there were surges of Kyuubi's, now Naruto's and Naruko's, chakra that it wouldn't be felt unless they were totally out of control. Besides that, the training ground was fairly diverse with a small waterfall that fed a large stream that widened into a pond at one point. The rest was mainly forested, but there was a bare, rocky section as well.

All four ninja were sitting in a rough circle along the pond's bank, taking a load off to talk. "Well, brats, we got to meet yesterday," Jiraiya mused, "but I still don't think we know each other very well. We'll do a little intro here, us first, then you two."

Yamato decided to start. "As you all know, my name is Yamato. I have been in Anbu for some time and focus on ninjutsu. For various reasons, I can use mokuton – wood ninjutsu said to be able to suppress the chakra of tailed beasts. I will be helping you control your power while training and teach you other things as well. I enjoy meditation and gardening, and I dislike impatient people. I suppose my dream for the future…" he cut off to think for a few moments. "Right now I just want to help you two become great ninja."

No one had noticed when, or how, but five toads had been summoned as smoke rose up from the ground. Four of the toads started dancing in a circle around the smoke while the fifth played dramatic music on a koto. In the smoke, Jiraiya's voice could be made out. "From the mythical realm of Mount Myoboku, the man all men want to be and all women want to be with, the legendary toad sage," the smoke suddenly cleared to reveal Jiraiya in a dramatic pose, "Jiraiya!"

He looked at his audience in expectation but only saw boredom instead of the awe he had been hoping for. "Damn it." He released the toads summons back to their home. "I'm one of the three legendary sannin and I've done a lot with my life. I specialize in ninjutsu and fuinjutsu, but I can do some of everything and will teach you some of everything. I like writing and the fine female form, though I could do without women beating on me when I'm caught. I also hate _traitors_. But enough of that. I'm the toad summoner and taught the Yondaime Hokage as I plan to teach you. My only two dreams for the future are to teach you two and maybe have a family."

Naruto and Naruko looked at each other to see who was next. After a short mental conversation through their link, Naruto bounced up to his feet. "I'm next then, Uzumaki Naruto. I don't really know much yet, but I do know the shadow clone and one day I'm going to be the strongest ninja around! I like ramen, pulling off pranks, and Naruko. I don't like the way some of the villagers look at us. I was fine with it, but I can't stand it when they look at Naruko that way too. Like I said, I'm going to be a strong ninja one day, but I'm not sure I want to be Hokage anymore if this is how Naruko will always be treated by everyone here."

Naruko hadn't expected Naruto's most disliked thing to be when she was treated badly. That truly showed his strength of character that he'd focus on others instead of himself. "I'm Naruko Uzumaki. I don't really know much about the world, but I like Naruto. I also like when I was able to hear music, but that didn't happen often. Kyuubi was also nice when we were able to talk, and I'd like to set her free. I don't like how everyone has always treated Naruto." She pouted cutely, but it wasn't just a joke. It had always hurt her to see how he was treated when she was able to see what he was doing. "My dreams are to be a good mate to Naruto, to help out and free Kyuubi, and to find out who I am now that I can live my own life."

This was the part that had the two elder ninja worried. "We need to talk about this whole freeing the Kyuubi thing," Jiraiya suggested. "You told sensei – Sarutobi – that Kyuubi could be summoned and help teach you somehow, but that sounds different than completely freeing it. How do we know it will behave?"

"First off, Kyuubi's a she, not an it. Secondly, dad's seal has connected the three of us, especially Naruto and Kyuubi, so that she wouldn't want to escape, even if it wouldn't kill all three of us. It wouldn't disconnect the seal, just let her out. Finally, she's weak enough right now that most jounin could beat her and with you two present you could easily restrain her if it came down to it."

While Jiraiya and Yamato were pondering her words, wondering on how firmly they were connected and the effects of the seal on a "summoned" or released Kyuubi, Naruto was stuck on something else. "What do you mean dad's seal? Wasn't it the yondaime hokage who sealed Kyuubi?" Just like that the two adults had a whole new can of worms.

After a few moments of thinking on his feet, Jiraiya decided that honesty was the best policy. "It wasn't something we were going to tell you yet, not until you were strong enough to protect yourself, but Minato Namikaze, the fourth hokage was your father."

"But why would he seal a rampaging giant beast into his child?" Naruto asked in disbelief and the beginnings of anger. "Didn't he think about what that would do to the child's life?" Now the rage was coming out in full. "Who even wants a father that would do that to their own kid?"

He would have continued on, but he was smacked hard across his face by Jiraiya. "You should stop insulting him now, you need to focus kid. You're not thinking about the bigger picture here."

"What big picture, the one where Naruko-chan and I get screwed over while he doesn't have to live with his mistakes?"

"No," Naruko's softer voice answered as she took his hand to calm him, her tails wrapping around his body as a form of comfort. "The big picture where, if he didn't do it, we would have died from Kyuubi anyway and the whole village would have followed. Besides that, Kyuubi mentioned once, when we were able to talk, that without her chakra healing you, we would have died anyway. Due to our premature birth we were born weak and only Kyuubi actually let us live."

Naruto seemed to get what she was saying, the fact that she was trying to give him a soothing feeling over their mental link helping her, but he wasn't ready. "Well, I guess it makes sense, but I haven't forgiven yet and I won't forgive him that easily." This was something Jiraiya could deal with and was about as much as he had hoped for. "But what about mom?" he asked, the bitterness leaving his voice.

Naruko had no answer for this one, but Jiraiya knew some of that incident. "She was a wonderful redhead, quite the looker but also quite outspoken and a great kunoichi. Kushina Uzumaki. She knew almost as much fuinjutsu as your father. Like Naruko said, Kyuubi's killing intent, her ki, forced Kushina into a premature birth from the stress. After that, we're not sure what happened. All we know is that she had been killed still in her hospital bed, but we have never been able to find evidence as to who did it." Jiraiya had to stop and sigh his disappointment at that.

"The original plan was for her to raise you, but her death obviously was not foreseen. Kushina and Minato were like my children and it was one of the worst days of my life when I heard that both had died and left you alone. Sensei told me he'd look after you two until it was time for graduation. At that point I was considering teaching you two, and here I am." Jiraiya gave a glum smile. "At least that part of the plan worked."

"So what does that mean for us, then?" Naruto asked. "Are we going to tell everyone or get their stuff or something?" Naruto didn't really care to get rich or famous from his heritage, but he did wonder if there was at least something of his parents he could have to remember them by.

"Of course," Yamato spoke up. As one of Sarutobi's most trusted Anbu he had been entrusted with the blonde's inheritance should they find out the truth. "We don't want everyone to know who you are just yet as they had many powerful enemies, but we are fine with you quietly inheriting their wealth and belongings."

"In fact, after training we can take you to their old place," Jiraiya added. "First, though, we need to talk about the Kyuubi again. We trust you, Naruko, so we'll let you two do as you can to free her if you feel it is right. Just remember, this is serious business."

Naruko nodded her head, understanding the gravity of freeing the strongest Biju from confinement before turning to her brother. "Are you ready?"

"Sure! So how do we free her?"

Naruko just shrugged. "We might all be connected, but she's in you, not me. Talk to her."

"Well how do I do that?" he asked, never having entered into his mindscape except for the one time Naruko met with him and Inoichi in their shared mindscape.

"Well, I'll help you through the link this time, but you need to figure it out yourself in case you need it later. For now, just close your eyes." Naruto followed her orders. "Now slow your breathing." He breathed in deeply. Naruko now communicated directly to his mind through their connection. "_Try to find where your chakra comes from._" He breathed out, feeling his chakra circulation near his heart and his stomach. "_Now imagine what you think Kyuubi looks like._" Naruto breathed in once more. His first thought was of a fox of monstrous size and hair in the shades of blinding fire, but it slowly slipped into the picture of a rather attractive woman in her mid to late twenties. It was blurry, and felt like it was out of focus, but it was definitely the same feeling the image of the fox had given him. "_Now go to her._" This time when he breathed out he opened his eyes only to find himself face to face with the woman he had imagined.

This woman was chained by the wrists to a wall in a dungeon, her long crimson hair managing to cover all the most private spots her nudity would have exposed. She looked up at Naruto as he found himself in front of her. Her flaming eyes caught him by surprise and he noticed her slight nails and claws.

"Hello, Naruto," she spoke. Her voice was calming like the last warming ember of a fire, but he felt that her anger would sound more like an inferno.

"Are you... you can't be..." trailed off the confused blond. Even when they had talked the night of the Mizuki incident with Inoichi present, Kyuubi had always been in fox form in that gaudy cage. Now he saw a beautiful woman in chains of a delicate silver design that looked easy enough to snap, though they seemed to hold her tightly. "Kyuubi?"

"Yes, it's me. I assume you're here so I can help teach you?"

"No, I'm here to free you. If you want to teach Naruko and me afterwards, that's cool too. Naruko said you wanted your freedom and I owe you at least that much after you helped my sister return to me."

She smiled a small smile. "Such a humble boy, not taking advantage of a position in which you hold all the cards. All you need to do is touch where the chains attach to the walls and will them to release me."

Naruko walked behind her to where she pointed and saw little pins with the Uzumaki swirl on them. He reached to touch them and at the slightest contact, they sprung from their resting places. All but the silver manacles around Kyuubi's wrists disappeared in a flash of golden light, and the manacles now held a small Uzumaki swirl on them. Kyuubi, weak from confinement, fell forward and Naruto caught her and helped her to stand up. "Thank you, Naruto. Now, let's get out of here, it's time for me to see the world for the first time in over a decade."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The little group had been waiting for a few minutes now as Naruto sat unnaturally still. The only signs that he was more than a stone statue were his slow, steady breaths and his eyes which flickered behind their lids like the boy was in REM sleep. Soon there was a flicker of chakra that soon greatly intensified before flowing over to a spot just next to Naruto. As the flow increased, Naruto's eyes fluttered open and a beautiful woman with long, red hair appeared next to him, leaning on his shoulder. Her only clothing was two silver bracelets she wore on her wrists.

Had Jiraiya not been absolutely freaking out about the fact that this was the Kyuubi in the flesh, he would have had enough material from viewing her body to write his next few novels. Still, despite avoiding his perversions he was disappointed as the woman used a single hand seal and was suddenly wearing clothes – an outfit consisting of a vest, a tank top, and a skirt – not unlike something a kunoichi would wear.

She turned to Naruto and took his head with her hands she stared into his eyes, pouty lips parted, panting for breath. Still, despite her "give it to me" posture the group was still quite surprised when Naruto dived forward, taking her lips with his like a man possessed. She mewled and moaned as the boy gave into his primal urges, his tongue invading her mouth and his canines nipping at her lips, drawing blood which he eagerly lapped up. Once he had taken in the blood he went shock still before shivering a little, a tenth tail erupting to join the others before he collapsed.

Everyone was fairly stunned into silence until Naruko noticed something. "You took his first kiss, you bitch!" she yelled boldly, quite out of character with the kind, quiet Naruko the group had seen so far.

"Well," Kyuubi said as she sat up, her lip already healing, "I could always be summoned by you two, but we all were talking about a more permanent solution, so I took advantage of it." She positioned the still catatonic Naruto so that he was sitting on her lap, his eyes still blank from what had gone on. "I figured that even the shinigami wouldn't be able to hold me if I became something the seal didn't mean to hold, so I gave Naruto-kun here my power. I made him the current King of Demons and made it so that the seal won't recognize me to reseal again."

"But how did you two manage to do that? By swapping spit?" Jiraiya asked as a joke.

"Well, yes. The transfer of power to make a new King of Demons involves a show of dominance, a slight genjutsu on my part making him rather aggressive, and a transfer of fluid – especially those thick with life. Normally dominance is shown through a fight and the transfer with sex, but he couldn't beat me as he is and I don't think Naruko-chan would appreciate us having sex before she gets her piece," Kyuubi smirked at Naruko who, despite blushing furiously, did nothing to deny it.

"Does that mean something similar happened with you?" Yamato queried.

"Yes, long ago. You see, there was a time, eons past and before my birth, when the world's life form came to three paths. The lesser path was that of dumb beasts, the common animals of the world. The middle path was that of humanity – humans grew in strength and number and cultivated a chakra circulatory system. The final path is that of the greater beasts. I don't mean to say it was the nine of us 'Biju', as you humans seem to believe, but that every tribe of summoning animal gained intelligence and, like humans, cultivated a chakra circulatory system."

"But what about the Rikudo Sennin?" Jiraiya asked. As a sage himself, he had always wondered about the story of the destruction of the beast Juubi and the formation of the nine Biju.

"He was a great man, the first and only to gain the respect of all the greater beast tribes, the first to summon, and he did make the moon, but he did not make us. I was alive far before his birth. No, as I said, we were tribes. The strongest tribes, also called the noble tribes, are those that later gave birth to the Biju, the tanuki, nekomata, kitsune, and the others. The weaker tribes are commonly summons now. The toads, snakes, hawks, bees, and so many other tribes never gained in power to the next level." A faint smile came to her lips while she continued to pet Naruto's whisker marks. The boy had rejoined the group mentally not long ago, and was enjoying both the story and the attention she was paying to his whisker marks and now his ears too.

"I was alive when the weirdest thing happened. Some of us became massive and sprouted extra tails. It all started with a tanuki becoming massive after their whole race supported one leader. Soon after the rest of us grew in size, but not as massive. Then another race, the beetles, made them submit. The tanuki leader had to give much of his power as tribute and the beetles' leader gained a second tail, something unheard of. His power was massive until some other races naturally grew a second tail."

"It was a steady evolution over the eons with a new King of Demons being chosen, taking the power of the old King, and then eventually being met with equal powered beings. Each tribe eventually found their own limit to power, the tanuki ironically never gaining more than their first tail while the ox, beetles, and kitsune continued to gain in power for a long time. In fact, upon the date I was sealed away the kitsune had several strong members including a seven tail. Oddly enough, it seems that a seven tailed kitsune is not quite as strong as the beetle's leader who also has seven tails, though stronger than the slug's leader who possesses six tails. Apparently the strength of a tribe's backing makes each of the nine Biju stronger than those of equal tails from other tribes.

"As the strongest of my tribe I fought the leader of the ox, both of us with eight tails and he the current King of Demons. I won and gained my ninth tail, a power unmatched by any save you two now. As tradition dictates, we would have become mates after beating him, but he was much too frail after our battle and we had already shared enough blood in combat. I took mates over the years, but none was truly satisfying as they were all weaker. Now that I have temporarily given all my power so that a new being – fully human yet now fully kitsune – could have ten tails and become the new king and my new mate – all three of us are now mates. If anything, we are all lucky. Naruko and I have a mate that can actually satisfy us while Naruto, despite his mates having less tails, will likely be satisfied with the two of us."

"But what's the big deal about being a mate?" Naruto asked her, having wondered exactly what it meant. "I get that we can talk through our heads and that it means we're together for life, but what's the big deal about not being satisfied like you keep on saying?"

"For demons with our power, we experience the full and dramatic range of emotions expected from both humans and the dumb beasts. This means we understand love and compassion, but we also can be taken in by overpowering bloodlust or by lust itself. Our bodies naturally go through a heat every so often and, though we can control it some, it adds up overtime. I have never successfully quelled my heat, my demand for sexual satisfaction, due to inadequate mates, so my frustration built up over time. I could have mated with others, but in heat I may literally have killed them. As it stands, you can see what that frustration became as it is what caused me to attack Konoha twelve years ago when my frustration become pure bloodlust."

"So, you're saying that if we don't have sex with each other when we're in heat, that eventually we'll go and attack people at random?" Naruko asked nervously.

"Something along those lines, yes," Kyuubi agreed. "It could take decades to get to that point, though, so don't go rushing it just yet. As it is, with my weakened form from having my chakra siphoned all these years and now giving the rest to Naruto-kun, I won't be a threat for at least a decade from frustration. I won't even be able to mate the way I desire for at least a year if I had to guess."

"But, that's not fair!" Naruto shouted. "I like Naruko-chan, and I think you're pretty and all, but you're saying I can't ever love anyone else or I'll go crazy? That just sucks."

"Yes, it does," Kyuubi continued though her voice seemed a little sterner, "but you need to understand that if you get intimate with someone who isn't strong enough, you may literally break their bones from rutting or rip their throat out in the process if they don't submit the way a mate knows to. Your body is designed for a strong mate, now two, and if you don't follow it, there will be consequences."

"Sheesh," Naruto sighed. "Well that just great to hear." He released a shrill yawn, his eyes narrowing from it like the fox that he was. "Can I get some sleep? I'm really tired now and I need to rest. I need to process this overnight."

"Yeah, freeing Kyuubi and hearing this news has to be tiring for you," Yamato guessed. "Jiraiya can show you to the Namikaze estate we mentioned earlier and then you can sleep after you look around a bit."

The final reason they had chosen their training field was that it was near the Namikaze clan estate. Their estate was on the outskirts of central Konoha on one of the very last streets before the training fields started. The grounds of their new home was surrounded by a sturdy stone wall that seemed to be jutsu made, but was only secured by locked iron gates at various points along the wall. Jiraiya assured them that there were seals on the walls to prevent surface walking, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be hopped by more persistent intruders.

Once inside the walls, they looked around to find that the majority of the estate was covered in overgrown gardens with various spots for light training and meditation. There were ponds and footpaths that all looked less than pristine from lack of maintenance, but would be easily repaired with the help of a few shadow clones. One main path split into several smaller paths that branched off towards cleared plots of land that were obviously meant for future buildings and expansions. Obviously Minato and Kushina had planned for the clan to grow before Kyuubi came to town.

The main path continued to lead straight towards a small cluster of buildings – the only finished structures on the estate's grounds. One was a small building – either a guest house or some similar facility – while the second was a large shed, no doubt used to help maintain the grounds. The third and final building was definitely too large to call a house. The only word that came to Naruko's mind was mansion. It had three floors and Jiraiya mentioned two basement levels.

This building was better locked than the gates were as it actually took blood and chakra to unlock and, the sage explained, had both heavily reinforced materials in construction and was covered in strengthening and defense seals of all types. Jiraiya actually had to tweak the main seal as he had been previously keyed in while Naruto's blood and chakra had been altered upon his demonic transformation. He instructed the blondes on how to lock and unlock the house's blood seal so that they could activate it later if they wished before adding theirs, Yamato's, and Kyuubi's blood and chakra signatures to the list of those who could lock and unlock the seal. Apparently even the windows locked when the seal locked.

The next half hour was a whirlwind of exploration as they roamed the house. A ballroom, a library, a small dojo, quite a couple of bedrooms including the obvious master bedroom, a formal meeting room, a small armory in the upper basement, and vault in the lowest basement that contained all the assets and secrets of both the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans were only a few of the rooms present in addition to those normally expected such as bathrooms, storage, and a world class kitchen. Naruto made a promise to himself that he'd have to scour the vaults while Naruko was more interested in their father's private study attached to the library. Kyuubi was just interested in the master bath and the huge tub inside of it.

The last room they saw was directly next to the master bedroom and was the room that had Naruto most absorbed in his thoughts. It was a nursery, still ready for them. The walls had been painted a gender neutral green, but one cradle was blue and the other pink. Both cribs were surrounded by toys, though there was a particularly large toad plush toy in the blue crib and a mobile made of Uzumaki spirals above the pink crib.

"He planned for you, you know," Jiraiya said as he put a hand on each of the blondes' shoulders. "Even when he knew he wasn't long for this world he planned for Kushina to be able to care for you. Knowing her abilities with seals, better than mine and almost as good as Minato's, she probably could have freed you sooner, Naruko, and helped speed up the chakra transfer. It would have been alright, but s- she was killed."

The man was revealing a side that the teens hadn't yet seen. His voice was breaking up and he was having trouble talking. "I know that you mi- might not forgive him for the sealing, but he never saw this coming. I miss them both so much." Even worse, Jiraiya now knew Minato to be his son. And that made things so much harder.

"Alright, you old perv," Naruto said jokingly, though the tearstains down his face were obvious. "I'll give him another chance, but I better not find anything else bad about him." He was pretending not to be affected, but to the old veteran it was obvious. "Let's go – I'm tired after today."

So soon enough the three mates had collapsed into bed in a position that would no doubt embarrass Naruto if he was coherent enough to realize a girl was on either side. Jiraiya didn't even have it in him to take pictures or make a joke, so he quietly left with Yamato. But they'd be back tomorrow for training. Still, maybe they could sleep in a little tomorrow. He'd wake them by eight.

**One scene is horribly cliché, the blondes looking at the nursery. But I always loved it reading it in other fics, so I gave it a go. So, the poll is still up and taking votes. Also, spread the love; check out my other fics (especially A Wish for the End which will be updated next). Finally review or PM me with input. As always tell what you liked and didn't like, and also your third job. I'll share my own – or a story from my own if you do.**


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